Extra urgent care dental appointments will be available for patients in Darlington, as part of new plans to ease the pressure on overstretched dentists.
The NHS will carry out a procurement exercise to establish a new dental service in the Eastbourne area that is expected to be in place for early 2025.
The announcement comes after the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed a new short-term temporary Urgent Dental Access Centre will open at the Firthmoor Community Centre in June. Patients will be able to access urgent appointments via NHS 111.
David Gallagher, chief contracting and procurement officer at the Integrated Care Board (ICB) welcomed the news but warned there is a “long way to go to recover to pre-pandemic levels”.
He added: "In Darlington, this includes investment in the temporary urgent dental access centre, which will provide increased urgent dental care capacity locally while a procurement process takes place to secure a new general and routine dental service in the Eastbourne ward of the town from January 2025, subject to a successful procurement outcome.
"Our longer-term plans include a full procurement plan, which has now started, that will provide between 198,322 and 244,596 extra urgent dental access appointments through 11 contracts in total covering Darlington, North Cumbria, Durham, Sunderland and Northumberland."
Peter Gibson, Conservative MP for Darlington, said: "Working closely with NENC ICB, the planned provider, and Firthmoor Community Centre I am delighted to see the delivery of this much needed dental capacity in Darlington to meet the demand of the community I serve. This announcement significantly helps address the need in Darlington and I will continue to work for additional provision here."
Lola McEvoy, Labour candidate for Darlington, said: "People in Darlington won't be taken for fools. This is a crisis caused by the Conservative Government and now, with a General Election coming up, our MP is trying to patch over the gaping hole left by their chaotic mismanagement.
"This sticking plaster approach to public services is simply not good enough for the people of our town or indeed the country.
"Labour has a fully costed plan to rescue NHS dentistry from its perilous state and is ready to enact it in the first 100 days of Government. It's time for a change."
Explained: All you need to know about the Darlington dentistry update
Is this a new dental practice for Darlington?
No, this is not a new traditional dental practice. Recognising the challenges people face accessing NHS dentists, it is a temporary, urgent dental access centre that is being put in place while the NHS completes a full procurement exercise to establish new, permanent general dental provision in the Eastbourne ward of Darlington from January 2025. The aim is to have the temporary centre open in June 2024.
I used to be a patient at Firthmoor, how can I get an appointment?
The urgent dental access centre that is scheduled to be available in June in Firthmoor is for urgent appointments accessed via controlled referral routes now being developed which will include NHS111. The urgent centre will not be open for general, day to day routine appointments or walk in appointments.
Patients with an urgent need who aren't already receiving treatment at a dental practice should call NHS 111 for urgent support and they will be signposted to the service that is most appropriate to their needs, which might be the urgent access centre in Darlington when it opens in June.
Why is the temporary centre being opened?
The urgent dental access centre in Darlington will help provide extra urgent care capacity and access to appointments while the NHS carries out a procurement exercise for a permanent, general dental service for the area.
When will it open?
The urgent dental access centre is scheduled to be operational in June, subject to registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC currently has a significant backlog of registrations to process, and we are hopeful that the process will be concluded as quickly as possible.
The urgent dental access centre in Darlington will help provide extra urgent care capacity and access to appointments while the NHS carries out a procurement exercise for a permanent, general dental service for the area.
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When will it open?
The urgent dental access centre is scheduled to be operational in June, subject to registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC currently has a significant backlog of registrations to process, and we are hopeful that the process will be concluded as quickly as possible.
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